Strip separating device



Nov. 21, 1939. w. J. RUDOLPH 3 STRIP SEPARATING DEVICE Filed March 16, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 m N .fizJezz for: b\ N Zz/Zzlter If (1040/2. Lt I 1939- w. J. RUDOLPH 2.l80,837

STRIP SEPARATING DEVICE Filed March 16, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet. 2

Nov. 21, 1939. w. J. RUDOLPH 3 STRIPSEPARATING DEVICE Filed March 16, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Nov. 21, 1939 UNITED STATES STRIP SEPARATING'DEVICE Walter J. Rudolph, Chicago, Ill., assignor, by

mesne assignments,

to Acme Visible Records,

Inc., Chicago, Ill., a corporationof Delaware Application March 16,

6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvementsin a machine for separating flexible visible index strips from a sheet thereof, and refers specifically to a machine which cleanly separates said strips and discharges the separated strips in an orderly manner whereby the same may be conveniently handled in removing them from the machine and in subsequently inserting them in appropriate frames.

Flexible visible index strips such as those described in United States Patent No. 1,594,112 are well known and widely used. Flexible index strips of this type are provided in continuous sheet form comprising wood veneer faced on the front and back with paper. The laminated sheet thus formed is then partially severed in the direction of its thickness or depth to permit subsequent separating into individual resilient index strips. The sheet while in partially severed con- 2 dition, of course, is sufliciently coherent to be passed, for instance, around the platen of a typewriter whereby the index matter is typed upon the individual strips. Thereafter, the

strips are severed completely and inserted in appropriate frames provided for that purpose.

, Certain industries, bureaus and the like use thousands of these strips, as for instance, telephone companies, mail order houses, electric power companies and many other instances of extensive use may be cited. In most cases these index records are periodically supplemented, altered or otherwise changed, requiring the preparation of new strips. Heretofore, after the strips were typed they were manually separated,

which as can readily be appreciated. takes time where thousands of suchstrips are being han-, dled.

My invention is particularly directed to the provision of a machine which automatically separates the strips, the typed partially, severed sheet being fed into the machine and the strips being delivered from the separating mechanism in separated parallel alignment, the strips upon delivery all occupying the same relative position as they did when in sheet form.

Briefly described, my invention comprises a plurality of traveling belts which, in addition to passing over a plurality of suitable pulleys to change the direction of travel of the belts, pass around a plurality of sleeves or drums, the sheet of partially severed strips being carried by said belts over said sleeves or drums whereby the sheet is bent, along the various lines of severance, first in one direction and then in the other, the last 1938, Serial No. 196,159

tions of the sheet to tension whereby complete severance occurs.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and following detailed description.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan sectional View of my machine.

Fig. 2 is, a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l with the cover housings in place.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional View taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view 01' a partially severed sheet of index strips.

Fig. 6 is a similar View of the separated strips as delivered from my machine.

Fig. 7 is a slightly. enlarged detail sectional view of the strip separating mechanism.

Fig. 8 isa transverse sectional view similar to Fig. 4., illustrating a delivered sheet of completely separated strips, and the manner in which the delivered strips may be removed from the machine. Y.

Fig. 9 is a sectional viewof a tray for removing the separated strips from the machine.

Referring in detail tothe drawings, i indicates a relatively flat bottom or base, the opposite longitudinal edges of which'are bent to provide channels 2 whichare coextensive with the length of the base I. Feet 3, which may take the form of inverted rubber vacuum cups, are secured adjacent eachcorner of the base I by means of bolts 3' whichpass through the bottom portion of the channels .2 and are retained by nuts 4.

A frame 5 of relatively heavy material is removably secured, preferably by bolts (not shown) to the inner face. of each of the channels 2 adjacent one end of the base, said frames extending upwardly at right-angles to the plane of the base. Struts or tie-rods 6 serve as spacers and supports for the upper portions of the opposite frames 5, the struts being provided with downwardly extending lugsor fingers 1 which embrace the upperedges of the frames adjacent the opposite end of the base I. Frames 8 are mount- ,ed, similar to frames 5, upon the inner surfaces of channels 2, saidframes being spaced and supported by av tie-rod 9, identical with tierods' 6. h

A housing Ill is positioned over the frames 5. said housing having a top H, side walls l2 and I3 and end walls I l and IS. The side walls I2 by screws l6 or the like. A portion of the top ll of the housing between the frames extends downwardly along an inclined plane, as shown best at H in Fig. 7, said inclined portion being provided with a relatively large aperture. Another portion |8, of the top, extends vertically downwardly and is joined with the lowermost extremity of the inclined portion I1, as indicated at is. A guard 2|] is joined to the member 8 and is disposed along an inclined plane substantially parallel to inclined portion I1. Between the guard 26 and the inclined portion 11, an opening 2|) is provided whereby a sheet 2| of partially severed index strips 22 may be inserted into the machine, as will be hereinafter more fully described. The end wall M of the housing is imperforate, but the opposite end wall l5 is provided with an opening 23, the purpose of which will be hereinafter described.

Each frame 5 is provided, adjacent one end, with a pair of elongated slots 24 and 25, the slot 24 being located immediately above the slot 25. A hearing plate 26 is adjustably mounted, by means of screw 21 adjacent slot 24, the shank of screw 21 passing through a slot 28 provided in the bearing plate. A similar plate is mounted adjacent the slot 24 in the opposite frame. A shaft 29 is journalled in the opposite plates 26, said shaft extending through opposite slots 24. A roller 30 is carried by shaft 29 between. the frames 5. It can readily be seen that by proper adjustment of the bearing plates 26, shaft 29 can be disposed in any desired position along the length of slots 24.

A bearing plate 3| is positioned adjacent each slot 25 and is secured to each opposite frame 5 by means of a screw 32, the shank of which passes through a slot 33 provided in each plate 3|. A shaft 34 is journalled in each opposite plate 3|, said shaft extending through each slot 25. A roll 35 is carried by shaft 34 between the opposite frames. Similar to roll 30, roll 35 may be adjusted a distance limited by the length of slots 25.

A slot 36 is provided in opposite frames 5 and a bearing plate 31 is positioned adjacent each slot, a plate 31 being secured to each opposite frame 5 by means of a screw 38, the shank of which passes through a slot 39 provided in the plate 31. A shaft 40 is journalled in each plate 31 and extends through slots 36 whereby said shaft may be adjusted along the length of the slot. Shaft 40 carries a roll 4|.

A shaft 42 is journalled in opposite frames 5 and carries a roll 43 between said frames. Similarly, a shaft 44 is journalled in said frames and carries a roll 45.

A shaft 36 is also journalled in the opposite frames 5 and carries adjacent one end thereof, exterior of the frame, a gear 41. A crank 48, having a handle 49 is mounted upon the end of shaft 46 whereby the same may be manually rotated. Shaft 46, between frames 5, is knurled, as indicated at 56 in Fig. 1, along spaced portions of its length, and intermediate said knurled portions freely rotatable sleeves 5| are carried.

A shaft 52 is journalled in opposite frames 5 and carries at one end thereof a gear 53 which meshes with gear 41 and is rotated therewith when crank 48 is manipulated. Intermediate frames 5, shaft 52 is formed, along spaced portions 54 of its length, with hexagonal cross-section. Of course, as the description proceeds it will be appreciated that said portions may be 01' triangular, square, pentagonal or octagonal section, in short, my invention broadly contemplates spaced portions of polygonal section. Intermediate the polygonal portions 54, shaft 52 carries freely rotatable sleeves 55.

At the opposite end of the machine the frames 8 are provided with slots 56 through which shaft 51 extends, said shaft being journalled in bearing plates 58 adjustably secured to frames 8, in a manner similar to the relationship of plates 26, 3| and 31 to frames 5. Frames 8 are also provided with opposite slots 59, through which shaft 66 extends, said shaft being journalled in plates 6| which are adjustably secured to the sides of frames 8. Intermediate frames 8 shaft 51 carries a roll 62, and similarly shaft 66 carries a roll 63.

An endless conveyor belt 64, preferably constructed of elastic tape or the like, is trained, in the order named, around the following rolls and shafts; a knurled portion 50 of shaft 46 whereby the belt is driven, a polygonal portion 54 of shaft 52, over roll 45, around roll 63 at the opposite end of the machine, back under the lower portion of roll 45, around rolls 35 and 36, and under roll 4| to shaft 46. A similar belt 65 at the opposite side of the machine follows a similar path although spaced from belt 64.

A similar conveyor belt 66 is trained around the following rolls and sleeves in the order named: around a sleeve 5| on shaft 46, around a sleeve 55 on the shaft 52, over roll 45, around roll 62 at the opposite end of the machine, over roll 43, around roll 4! and back to sleeve 5|. In traveling from one end of the machine to the opposite end thereof in the direction indicated by the arrows, belts 64 and 66 are disposed adjacent and parallel. Similarly a belt 61, which follows the same path as belt 66, is disposed adjacent and parallel to belt 65.

Conveyor belts 68 and 69, constructed of the same material comprising belts 64', 65, 66 and 61, follow similar paths and will be traced together, although the belts move in spaced relationship. Said belts are trained around rolls 35 and 30, under roll 4|, around knurled portions of shaft 45, around polygonalportions of shaft 52, around roll 45, and back to roll 35.

A conveyor belt 16 travels around the central portion of roll 4|, over a sleeve 5| on shaft 46, around roll 43 and back to roll 4|.

As has been hereinbefore described, the purpose of my machine is to automatically completely separate partially severed sheets 2| of index strips. In the construction of the sheets 2| the lower facing 2|a is usually the portion which remains unsevered and sometimes a very small portion of the central core is unsevered. If an attempt is made to separate the strips 22 by merely exerting a lateral pulling force, it will be found that it is not only difficult but a ragged edge frequently results, which, of course, is undesirable since the strips will not lie satisfactorily in the index frame. ered by bending the sheet acutely in a concaveupwardly direction, as viewed in Fig. 5, ragged edges will also result. To properly sever the strips, the sheet is acutely bent concave-downwardly to first fold the unsevered layer 2 la; the sheet is then acutely bent in the opposite direction whereby the unsevered portion thus preparatorily folded, separates cleanly.

In utilizing my invention a sheet 2| is inserted in the feed opening 20' with the lines of severance substantially at right angles to the direction of feed and with the unsevered layer 2|a facing downwardly. The angular relationship of If the strips are sevthe travel of the belts 6.4,, 68, 69 and 6.5, fromroll 30 to roll 4l,;causes'said belts to. pass through c the opening in the inclined member lLyThe sheet is therefore deposited upon the. upper surface of said belts all of Which are drivenfrom .shaft 46. As said belts passbeneath' roll. 4|,

' the unsevered layer Zlaand preparatorily folding said layer along the intended lines of sever:

ance. H j

The sheet, confined between belts 64, 65, 68 and 69 and belts 66 and 6,1,"is then carried to shaft 52,. Said belts in carrying the sheet around shaft flexes or hinges said sheet in the opposite direction as each strip. 22 tends to ride upon a fiat side of the hexagonal portions 54. The layer 2la being flexed in this direction is thereby severed since it is subjected to tension, and individual strips now pass from shaft 52 in seriatim between said belts. When the now severed sheet reaches roll 44, belts 68 and 69 return around roll and the strips are carried forwardly between belts 64 and 65 on the bottom ,and belts 66 ahd61 on top until said strips reach the position-shown in Fig. 1, at which time the cranking operation is discontinued. I

In the event that relatively wide strips22 are employed, instead of maintaining the shaft 52 hexagonal and increasingits average radius of curvature so as to have the sides of the hexagon conform with the width of the strips, I prefer to r tain a shaft of smaller radius of curvature and decrease the number of sides of the polygon to, for instance, a pentagon, a, square. or even a triangle.

It will be noted that belts 64, 65, 68 and 69 are driven by the high frictional contact of the knuried surfaces of shaft 46 and the polygonal sections of'shaft 52, whereas belts 66 and 61 are only driven by the relatively frictionless grip of the sleeves upon shafts 46 and 52, and the friction caused by the interpositioned sheet or strips. By this arrangement belts '66- and 61 can readily move relativeto belts 64, 65, 68 and 69. Such movement may take place, for instance, when the first strip of a fed sheet 2| does not register with rearwardly relative to belts 64, 65,68 and 69 until proper registration is secured. Again, relative movement of belts 66 and 61 with respect to belts 6d, 65, 68 and 69 when a sheet is fed beneath roll ll with the lines of severance of the strips not parallel to the axes of rolls 4! and 46. Relative movement of belts 66 and 61 with respect to belts 64-, $5, 68 and 69, and relative movement of belt 66 with respect to belt 61 may take place. Of course, by the use of elastic belts the sheet and strips will always be subjected to elastic urging, the urging force never being sufficiently positive to break the fragile strips. Proper tension of the belts may be obtained by adjusting the relative positions of rolls 3!), 35, 4|, 62 and 63, as has been hereinbefore described.

In view of the fact that the indicia H upon the strips is usually typed thereon and the upper surfaces ofthe strips are usually white or of a. light colonthe surfaces frequently being enamelled, the tapesor'belts 66, 61 and 'lllwhich contact the upper faces of the strips. are preferably such that they will leave no marks on the strips. In addition, all precautions are taken to prevent dust from accumulating on that face .of the belts which contacts the upper surfaces of the strips.

A housing I2 is provided for rolls 62 and 63 having side Walls 13 and 14, and end walls 15 and 16. The side walls '73 and 14 embrace the outer surfaces of the channels 2 andiare secured to said channels by screws "l7. Theside Walls and endwall 15 are imperforate; but end wall 16 is provided with openings '18 through Which the belts 64, 65,

66 and 6'! pass.

A housing 19, Figs. 4 and 8, covers a portion of the base 1 between housings .IB and 12, said housing 19 beingsecured to the outer surfaces of the channels 2 by'any 'suitablemeans. Itwilltbe, noted that thelower passes of belts 64 and 65 are beneath housing 19 whereas the upper passes of said belts are above said housing.

or shaft 8L A plate 8'2. is carried by pintle .81,

said plate carrying a right-angled flange 83 whichv is coextensive in length with plate 82. -A coilspring 84 embraces each end of the pintle 8 I, one

end of each of said springs being anchored to the 1 housing .19, as shown at B5 in Fig. 4. The oppositeend of eachcoil spring is anchored upon the right-angle flange 83,,said springs normally urge ing plate 82 in a counterclockwise direction.

around pintle-8|; r

Of course, it is frequently desirable to insert'all of the strips 23 in asuitable frame (not-shown) in the order in which said strips are discharged. from theseparating mechanism, and hence it isdesirable to remove all of the separated strips from theibeltsfi l, 65, 66 and 61 at onceand preserve their order of position. To accomplish this,

operation a tray 86 is usedwhich carries a spring:

clip member 81 which simultaneously graspsthe ends of all of the strips. When the strips are de livered from the separating mechanism in housing 1 0, the ends of the strips-are seldom in perfect alignment. However, by rotating the plate 82 in a clockwise direction to a vertical position, the action of clipping the ends of the strips upon the tray, simultaneously aligns the ends of the strips against the plate 82. The tray carrying the properly aligned strips may then be withdrawn, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig, 8, and the strips may then be inserted in the strip holding frame.

In order to prevent the surfaces of the belts 66 and 61 which contact the faces of the strips 22 from becoming soiled or dusty, inverted channels 88 may be positioned over said belts at their upper pass. Channels 88 may be spaced from each other and secured to the housings I0 and 12 by means of spacers 89 and screws 96.

Rolls 39, 34, 4!, 43, 62 and 63 are provided with suitablecircumferential grooves whereby the respective belts carried around said rolls are maintained in proper tracking alignment.

Of course, many changes may be made in the structure hereinbefore described without departing from the spirit of my invention, and hence I do not Wish to be limited except as necessitated by the prior art.

' I claim. as my invention:

A device of the class described which comprises in combination, a frame, a plurality of shafts positioned in said frame, a plurality of endless belts traveling in parallel relationship around said shafts for carrying a sheet of partially severed index strips, said sheet being carried between at least two of said belts in opposite directions around said shafts to completely separate said strips, the shafts around which said sheet is carried being of sufi'iciently small diameter to cause said sheet to bend acutely during travel around said shafts.

2. A device of the class described which comprises in combination, a frame, a plurality of shafts positioned in said frame, a plurality of endless belts traveling in parallel relationship around said shafts for carrying a sheet of partially severed index strips, said sheet being carried between at least two of said belts in opposite directions around said shafts, said shafts being of such diameter as to rupture by tension the partially severed portion of the sheet and to completely separate said strips, and means for driving said shafts around which said sheet travels.

3. A device of the class described which comprises in combination, a frame, a pair of shafts journalled in said frame, one of said shafts being substantially round in cross-section and the other of said shafts having portions of polygonal cross-section, a plurality of endless belts traveling in parallel relationship around said shafts for carrying a partially severed sheet of index strips, said sheet being carried between at least two of said belts in opposite directions first around said first mentioned shaft and then around said second mentioned shaft to completely sever said strips.

around said shafts for carrying a sheet of partially severed index strips, said sheet being carried on one pair of belts and beneath the other pair of belts, and being successively carried in opposite directions at substantially right angles to the length of said strips around said shafts by said belts'; the radius of curvature of said shafts being such as to completely sever said strips." f

5. A device of the class described which comprises in combination, a frame, a plurality of shafts positioned in said frame, two of said shafts being drivenand comprising means for rotating them at equal speeds, a plurality of endless belts traveling in parallel relationship around said shafts for carrying a sheet of partially severed indexstrips, said index strips being carried between at least two of said belts successively in opposite directions, first in one direction around one of said driven shafts and then in the opposed direction around the second of said driven shafts, each of said driven shafts being of a sufficiently small diameter relative to the width of said carried strips to cause said sheet to be bent acutely around them and thereby to completely separate said strips, means for carrying said strips confined by said belts forwardly in a plane, and means disposed adjacent the path of travel of said strips for aligning the ends of said strips.

6. A device of the class described which comprises in combination, aframe, a plurality of shafts positioned in said frame, only two of said shafts being driven and comprising means for rotating them at equal speeds, a plurality of endless belts traveling in parallel relationship around said shafts forcarryinga sheet of partially severed index strips, said sheet being carried between at leasttwo of saidbelts successively in opposite directions around said driven shafts by first acutly bending said sheet around one of said driven rolls, then returning said sheet to planar formation, and thereafter bending said sheet acutely inan opposed direction around the second driven roll-to completely separate said strips, means for carrying said strips confined by said belts forwardly in a plane, and means disposed adjacent the path of travel of said strips for aligning the endsof said strips, said means comprising a plate positioned in a plane at rightangles to the length of said strips.

- WALTER. J. RUDOLPH. 

